A BluesWax Reprint

This review originally ran in
BluesWax on May 11, 2005

Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers
Healin' Ground

BluesWax Rating: 9 out of 10

Dream Team Creates One of the Young Year's Best

Jimmy Thackery, who turns 52 this month, is a seasoned master of the Stratocaster who is sans his regular guys, the Drivers, this time except for drummer Mark Stutso's vocal appearances. Born in Pittsburg, but raised in Washington D.C., Thackery was, for over twenty albums, with The Nighthawks. Since the late 1980s, he has been touring and recording under his own name, leading first the Assassins, then the Drivers. His music ranges from no-nonsense Blues to power trio Blues-Rock. 

Thackery describes the new CD, Healin' Ground, best in his own words, "This was a dream project for me. To make a recording with Gary Nicholson was something we both have talked about for years! Some significant sacrifices were made by all the folks involved; without those sacrifices, it could not have happened." "Folks" indeed! This dream studio lineup includes, besides Nicholson (producer, writing, and keyboard pad), Kenny Greenburg (writing, guitar, rhythm guitar); Kevin McKendree (piano, Hammond organ); Jimmy Hall (harmonica, backing vocal); Tom Hambridge (writing and drums); Mark Stutso (vocal, backing vocal); Steve Mackey (bass); Lynn Williams (drums); Michael Rhodes (bass); along with additional writers Chuck Jones, Russell Smith, Mike Henderson; and it was all recorded and mixed by David Z. The result is simply killer and clearly one of the year's best! 

The opening track has a Nashville guitar flavor courtesy of Nicholson. With a hint of twang, "Let the Guitar Do the Work" is an upbeat, jaunty tune about snagging a significant other with sizzling fretwork. "Gonna shake a string/Gonna make it sing/She'll be in my arms tonight!" This song is perfect for an aerobic workout, with boogie-woogie piano flourishes by Kevin McKendree. 

Next up "Fender Bender" is a fantastic instrumental where Thackery really does let the guitar do the work. While listening to it, one might imagine soaring along in a red convertible down a coastal highway. It has an easy, smooth "surf sound" to it. Intensely atmospheric and relaxing, this song will let your mind go on a nearly four-minute vacation. 

For the best intoxicating hook, the title track, is up third. With deeply emotional lyrics by Nicholson and Greenburg, the song is nicely paced and layered with background "ooo-ooo-ooo" vocals, McKendree's organ, and Thackery simply ripping through the roof on guitar! 

"Had Enough"-Thackery's guitar has many moods, and the one in this selection is 'poignant'. It's one of the weeping instruments, along with Gary Nicholson's keyboard and McKendree's organ, that move you to emotion. Steve Mackey's bass growls softly but persistently in the background, like the dull roar of big-city traffic, punctuating this song's "hard-life" message. 

"Devil's Toolbox" - This is the best up-tempo Blues song on the album, featuring hard-hitting lyrics and sweet harmony on the chorus by guests Mark Stutso and Jimmy Hall. What exactly are the Devil's tools in the box that that we need to "get a lock on"? "He builds you up with pride/He will tear you down with fear/He knows how to use a lie/Till it's all that you can hear/He's made a world of need/Working that hammer of greed/Twisting and turning the hands of fate/Swinging his hammer of hate!" 

"Upside of Lonely"-If you don't get a chuckle from this tune, check yourself into a comedy rehab clinic - or a morgue! With its plodding rhythm, this ballad is about the bright side of a breakup. After his lover has left him, Thackery gloats, "I got my dirty clothes right on the floor/I let the trash pile up by the door/Eat pizza three times a day/I ain't worried about watchin' my weight!/ I don't know why nobody told me about the upside of lonely!" 

"A Shot in the Dark"-This Henry Mancini classic from the Pink Panther movies is "dedicated to [Thackery's] Pop and Little Bro Jon." It's got Thackery's stealthy-sounding lead guitar, Greenburg's rhythm guitar, and McKendree's Hammond organ instead of titillating trumpets. It's fast enough to make one's pulse race and brief enough (at 2:33) to be a movie opener. 

James Walker is a contributing editor at BluesWax


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